Thursday, December 20, 2007

On December 3rd we announced the launch of the RokAir wireless USB adapter for Macs (it also works with Windows 98SE through Vista and Linux too). The product has been a great success, with many units sold in the first two weeks of availability, in fact more sold than any previous product on our site in its first two weeks.

The heatsink, sensitive chipset, and high output power (100mw), have proven to be a winning combination as customers have commented that they have been happy with the range of the product and its overall ease of use with Mac OS. We also want to thank those media outlets such as MacNN.com who have written about our product.

We have received several inquiries regarding Leopard (Mac OS 10.5) compatibility. As noted in the item description, right now this is compatible with Mac OS 10.3 and 10.4. We do not yet have a Leopard driver available for this and are awaiting the development of one from the chipset manufacturer. We are hoping this will come very soon in Q1 of 2008, and once the driver is released, we will post it here on our blog and in the drivers section of our web site, once we have been able to test the driver and make sure there are no bugs/glitches.

If you are looking to purchase a wireless adapter for immediate use with OS 10.3 or 10.4, the RokAir is the way to go. If you are looking for one to use immediately with Leopard, the drivers are not yet available for the RokAir. If you have 10.3 or 10.4 now and plan to upgrade, the Leopard driver should be available soon, but again we do not know for sure exactly when. There always exists a small possibility that the chipset maker opts not to release one for some reason, so at this point we cannot guarantee future compatibility with Leopard.

Monday, December 03, 2007

We are excited to formally announce the launch of a new Rokland branded product, the RokAir wireless adapter for Apple Macintosh computers. This is an excellent alternative to the Airport line of wireless adapters, and with 100 mW of output power, it provides superior range performance compared to other adapters on the market. Below I have included our full press release announcing the launch. A PDF of the product spec sheet is available here. You can buy the adapter here.

***PRESS RELEASE***

Gainesville, FL -- 12/3/2007 -- Rokland LLC today formally announced the launch of RokAir, a new Apple Macintosh-compatible wireless USB adapter. The RokAir is an 802.11g/b device with a high 100mW (20 dBm) of output power and a built-in heat sink which allows for extended use. It also features PSP X-Link support and can run in AP mode. But what sets this device apart from most others is the fact that it is compatible with Apple Macintosh laptops and desktops and serves as an Airport alternative. All you need is an available USB port and Mac OS version 10.3 or 10.4.

"We've been in the wireless networking market for over six years," said Rokland spokesman Jason Opdyke. "We've carried various products and brands going back to the days of frequency hopping and RF wireless technology. This is one adapter to which we are very comfortable attaching our own brand name."

The RokAir is a pen-style USB device which also works with Linux operating systems in addition to the usual Windows suspects like 98SE and XP, as well as Windows Vista and the Mac operating systems noted above. "We have listened to our customers and they have told us what they want is a device compatible with a wide array of operating systems like Mac OS and Linux, but that is also portable and yet of very high power," continued Opdyke. "This device operates at 100mW of output power which is more than three times that of the popular Orinoco line, and twice that of Cisco b/g cards. And yet with the built-in heatsink, users can run the device for a long period of time."

The RokAir is poised to be one of very few Mac-compatible wireless adapters available to consumers this holiday shopping season. "If you know any one with a Mac computer, this would be a great gift for them," commented Opdyke. "You can even link up wirelessly with an Apple TV."

The RokAir wireless USB adapter from Rokland is available online at www.rokland.com with a special holiday street price of $27.99 plus shipping. A product spec sheet is available at http://www.rokland.com/rokair.pdf